Card index



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R E. BAUDER Feb. l5, 1944.

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Feb. 15, 1944. R. E. BAUDER GARD INDEX Filed Feb. 8. 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 l. l: 1E. E.

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Feb. 15, 1944. R. E. SAUBER cARD INDEX Filed Feb. 8, 1945 4 sheet-fsneei s E15- arm 8/ E Y J Y 4 `for-w20 :L12-E E. E..

Feb. Ila4 1944 R. E. BAUDER CARD INDEX Filed Feb. 8. 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Feb. 15, 1944 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE i.

CABDINDEX Raymoudlidward Bauder. ,Chinese Ill.

Application February 8, 19,43,- seriai No. 475,1191

6 Claims.4 (o1. 12s-16,17)

The-inventionrelatesto cardr index and similar=systems= ofthe general typeiinf which` the cards are provided at their upper; rearvportions withone or more downwardlyprojecting tongues to be hooked upon subjacent cards in a ling tray;l said cards having latera-lears forrecephtionfinguide,groovesalong the edges -ofthe tray.

TheV inventionr aimsprimarily to provide aY new improved card constructionin which novel provisiorrls made for reinforcing the uppertportion ofthe card',` giving a two-ply construction tothe lateral ears, and" insuring such positioningY of the tongue or tongues that` it or they will readily hooku upon the subjacent` card.

Further objects, aretoprovde for holding a markensheet, auxiliary cardv or the` like against saidl body portion ofthe cardby means of'one or more of' thev tongues; to provide a novel conneotionbetween amain card andan auxiliary cardwhich will permit said auxiliary cardv tobe shifted to avposition projecting beyond said main card for any desired specialpurpose; tov provide a novel doublefcard, form of the,` invention; to provide for connecting duplicate cards with each other; to. provide a. card which may beuuickly and easily placed in or removed from the ling trayy and one which may bexreadily placed ina typewriter, and to provide a simple. and inexpensive, yet a durable and very desirableY construction.

With` the foregoing and minor objects in view, the invention residesin the novel subject matterhereinafter` described and claimed, descrip tion being accomplished by reference,y to the accompanying drawings.

A number of -formsofy construction have been illustrated in the drawings and the views have been, grouped and bracketed, and identifiedas Form l, Form 2, etc., to facilitatev consid=-. eration.

Figure 1i is. a front elevation partly broken away and-in section showing a` plurality of't-he cards constructed in accordance with Form 1', engaged' with a filing tray;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section on line 2.-.-2 of Fig. 1f.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4lisa fragmentary perspective of the upper'left corner ofone of the cards.

Fig.5 is a broken away view illustrating the upper portion of one of' the cards,v before it is folded.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation showinga main and an auxiliary-card connected in accordance with Form 2.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary rear elevation.

Fig. 8 is4 a fragmentary longitudinal section showing the auxiliary card shifted to a position in which it'prcjects beyond the main card.

Fig. 9: is an enlarged sectional view on line 9--9-of Fig. 6.

Figs. 10 and 11 are respectively fragmentary front and rear perspectives showing Form 3.

Figs. 12 and 13 are similar perspectives relat-V ing to Form 4 and Fig. 14 is la detail section on line idf-Hof Fig. 13.

Figs. 15 and 16 are fragmentary front perspectives shoWingForrns 5 and respectively.

Figs.y 1'7` and 18 arev fragmentary rear eleva tions showing Forms 7 and 8 respectively.

Fig. 19 isa front elevation and Fig.w 20 a secvn tion on line .2|J^-20 of Fig. 19 showing Form 9.

Figs. 2l and 22 are similar views showing Form 10, Fig. 22 being a section on line 22-22 of- Fig. 21.

Figs. 223l and 24 are respectively a front elevation andlavdetail section relating to Form 11, Fig. 24 being taken on line 2li- 24. of Fig. 23.

Figs. 25 and 26 are respectively front and rear fragmentaryv perspectives of the forrnv of construction-identified as Form 12, this being a double-card form of the invention.

Figs; 27 and 28 are similar views relating to Form 13, and Fig. 29 is a detail section on line 29-29 of'Fig. 28.

All forms of the invention possess certain features in' common, and these features will be given the saineA reference characters in all forms of-v construction, the ways in which the various forms differ from each other being explained after a general or generic description.

The card l is of substantially rectangular form and may be constructed fromv ordinary card'- board or any other desired material. The upper corners-ofthe card l are each provided with an integral lug 2 (Fig. 5), and these lugsproject laterally beyond the vertical edges of the card. The upper portion of the card and its lugs 2 are forwardlyfolded upon themselves, providing the card with a head bar 3 and with two-ply lateral ears 4 at the ends of said head bar. The body portion of the card I is formed with one or more v slots 5 (each of which may be a mere slit if desired), each slotI being located at the lower edge of the head bar 3. A tongue 6, formed integrally with the lower edge of the head bar 3,` is associated with each slot 5, each tongue extending rear- Wardly through its respective slot 5 and project-i ing downwardly in diverging relation with the aforesaid body portion of the card I.

The head bar 3 reinforces the upper end of the card I and provides for giving the lateral ears 4 a reinforced two-ply construction. Then too, as the tongue or tongues 6 is/are carried by said head bar, the attached upper end of each tongue is in a plane above the card I, insuring that each tongue after passage through its respective slot 5, shall occupy the proper diverging relation with the card. Thus, the tongue or tongues of one card may readily hook upon a subjacent card as shown in Fig. 2, when a plurality of the cards are placed in a suitable filing tray. Such a tray has been illustrated at I in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, thel side walls 8 of said tray being formed with longitudinal grooves 9 in their inner sides to receive the ears 4. It is preferable that the bottom or rear wall of the tray be formed with longitudinal grooves IIJ to receive the tongues 6 (or with only one groove for single-tongue cards). The cards may be easily placed in the tray, simply by upwardly bowing them enough to permit insertion of the ears 4, and any inserted card may be downwardly slid to cause its tongue or tongues 6 to hook upon the reinforced upper'edge portion of the subjacent card. yThe cards may also be removed with equal facility by reversal of these operations and any card may be readilyplaced in a typewriter when it is desired to write any desired data upon it. When a number of the cards are hooked together in the tray, their lower ends are exposed as seen in Fig. 1, and said ends may carry any desired identifications. Guide lines for use if such identications are to be manually written, are indicated at II, and at I2 I have indicated a hinge line upon which the body portion of the card may be upwardly swung with respect to its reinforced upper portion, said hinge line being adjacent the lower edge of the head bar 3. The hinge line I2 may be about even with one edge or the other of the slot or slots 5 or may be in alinement with said slot or slots. Moreoveryeach slot'may be soV narrow as to be a mere slit if desired. l

In Figs. 6 to 9 (Form 2), an auxiliary card I3 lies upon the card I, is inserted under the head bar 3' and 'is formed with a slot I4 through which the tongue 9 extends, said slot being sufficiently long to permit the card I3 to be shifted upon the card I until it projects beyond said card I as seen in Fig. 8, said slot I4 being preferably of a length to allow such shifting of said card I 3 either to the right or left. When shifted to a projected position, the card I3 acts as an indicator, for

example, to show an account being posted, or the shifted card may serve as a marker for any other special purpose. To prevent the upper corners of card'I3` from striking the guide flanges of the filing trayV when said card I3 is shifted and to allow the projected end of said. card to overlie the adjacent one of said flanges, said corners are notchedat I3'. While card I3 is shown associated with a card I having a single tongue 5 and slot 5, it is obvious that this same general association may be carried out with a plural tongue and slot construction.

The construction shown in Figs. 10 and 11 (FForm 3) is practically identical with that shownvin Figs..l to 5 (Form 1) but the lower edge of the head bar 3 is formed with short ver- .tical slits I5 at the edges of the tongues 3. This permits passage of the tongue through the slot 5 Withllessabrupt bending and lessens the binding ofthe lower edge of said slot upon the tongue -16 (Form 6) discloses an unusually Wide head bar 3. As the lower edge of this head bar locates the tongues 6 and these tongues control the spacing of the cards lengthwise of the tray, a wide head bar will insure projection of any card quite a distance down beyond the next overlying card, ...whereas such downward projection will be less have also illustrated slits I6 along the line upon with a relatively narrow head bar. In Fig. 15, I

which the head bar 3 is downwardly folded, which is of particular advantage with relatively thick cards which might otherwise have a tendency to break along the fold line. v

In Fig. 17 (Form 7) and Fig. 18 (Form 8), the tongues 6 have their edges disposed indownwardly converging relation from their upper to their lower ends,A said edges being more acute to each other in Fig. 17 Vthan in Fig. 18. When the tongues are comparatively wide as seen in-Flg. 18, two to a card may be used, whereas otherwise, three may be required. A single tongue similar to that shown in Fig. 18 but wider (as in Form 2) could also be used if desired.

In Figs. 19 and 20 (Form 9), a marker I'I of cardboard, Celluloid or other desired material, lies upon the front of the card I and has its upper end inserted beneath the head bar 3, said marker having a slot I8 through which one of the tongues extends, whereby said marker is eiectively attached to the cardwith its lower end conspicuously displayed for one reason or another. l

. In Figs. 21 and 22 (Forrn 10), a memorandum sheet or the like I8, another sheet I9, and

a card 20 are attached to the cardI bypassing the tongues 6 through slots 2I in said sheetsand card I8, I9 and 20, the upper ends of said sheets and card being inserted under the head bar 3. If desired, one of the sheets or the card, for .example, sheet I9, may have pockets 22 at'its lower corners into which the lowercorners of cards, slips of paper or the like may be inserted.

In Fig. 23 (Form 11), let it be assumed that the card I is formed from Celluloid or similar transparent material, which is preferable yin this case. Along the lower edge of the card, an upwardly open pocket 23 is provided to receive the lower end of another card or the like 24 to be mounted upon the body portion of the card I. Inclned slits 25 are formed in card I, through which to insert the upper corners of card 24.

Figs. 25 and 26 (fForm 12) disclose a doublecard form of the invention, in which a second card 26 has its upper end integrally joine'd tothe lower edge of the head bar 3, the line of juncture between the two being formed with a plurality of slits 21 which constitute a hinge line upon which card 2S may be upwardly swung from card I. In this form of construction, the hinge line I2 for the body portion of the card I is also preferably slitted as seen in Fig. 26, and the fold line along which the head bar 3 is downwardly folded, may be similarly perforated as indicated at 28.

In Figs. 27, 28 and 29 (fForm 13), two duplicate double-cards are nested one within the other and are connected with each other by passing the tongues 6 of the inner card not only through the slots of said card, but through the slots 5 of the outer card. The tongues 6 of this outer card remain in the plane of the card portion from which they are stamped until the two cards are to be later detached, and said outer card arranged for its tongues to hook upon another card in the iiling tray.

From the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention. While preferred details of construction have been illustrated and a number of variations have been disclosed, attention is invited to the fact that still further modifications could well be made within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

l. A substantially rectangular card, the upper corners of said card each having an integral lug, said lugs projecting outwardly from the vertical edges of the card, the upper edge portion of said card and said lugs being folded forwardly upon themselves, providing the card with a reinforcing head bar and with projecting two-ply ears at the ends of said head bar, said head bar having at least one integral tongue extending downwardly and rearwardly, said card having at least one slot through which said tongue extends to hook upon a subjacent card.

2. A structure as specified in claim l; together with a flat member lying upon said card, inserted under said head bar and having a slot through which said tongue extends.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1; together with a flat member lying upon said card, inserted under said head bar and having a slot through which said tongue extends, said slot being sufciently long to permit shifting of said flat member to a position in which one of its ends projects beyond one of the ear-carrying ends of said card.

4. A structure as specied in claim 1 together with a, flat member lying upon said card, inserted under said head bar and having a slot through which said tongue extends, said slot being sufficiently long to permit shifting of said member to a position in which one of its ends projects beyond one of the ear-carrying ends of said card, said end of said flat member having a notch in its upper corner for the purpose set forth.

5. A structure as specified in claim 1; together with a second card integrally joined at its upper edge to the lower edge of said head bar and lying upon the iirst mentioned card.

6. A substantially rectangular card, the upper corners 01 said card each having an integral lug, said lugs projecting outwardly from the vertical edges of the card, the upper edge portion of said card land said lugs being folded forwardly upon themselves, providing the card with a reinforcing head bar and with projecting two-ply ears at the ends of said head bar, the body portion of said card having at least one slot at the lower edge of said head bar, said lower edge of said head bar having at least one integral tongue extending rearwardly through said slot and projecting downwardly to hook upon a subjacent card.

RAYMOND EDWARD BAUDER. 

